The Great Escape
by hbruce
Summary: OS: One of the most daring plans Alan has ever thought of. Will he survive? Only if he can avoid Virgil...


**So, after reading many fics where people always reference "that time Alan escaped from the infirmary through the window because he's a terrible patient" I decided that I wanted to know that story. This is my interpretation of what happened during that episode. **

**WARNING: This is completely random. Just intended for a little bit of fun.**

**ENJOY!**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING. *sigh***

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There it was. Just there, sitting wide open, waiting for him. Through it he could smell tropical flowers and a slight hint of salty sea air. _The smells of freedom._

His eyes flickered back and forth between his brother's office and his chance at freedom. Virgil was only going to be a few minutes- the x-ray viewer was in his office and he was loathe to be away from an injured brother for long- so Alan knew he would have to be quick if he was going to make it out alive. So what if he had a concussion? It couldn't be any worse than being stuck in one of the stupid infirmary beds for days on end, with nothing to do but count the ceiling tiles. _And I've already done that. Twice: one thousand four hundred and sixty three._

He quietly placed one foot on the floor, his ears straining for any indication that Virgil was coming back to check on him. Hearing nothing, he softly put his other foot on the floor and pushed himself off the bed. The room spun and he reached out for the guard rail to steady himself. _Damn. I can't do this if I'm going to fall over._

He took a few deep breaths and waited until the walls had stopped moving before taking his next step. The dizziness faded, leaving only the pounding headache that had been bothering him since his accident in its place.

The accident hadn't been his fault, not really. If Gordon hadn't have left his shirt at the top of the stairs (where he had dropped it after breakfast) than Alan wouldn't have slipped while he was running away from Scott. In fact, if Gordon hadn't pelted Scott with water balloons while the latter was leaving his room that morning, then Alan wouldn't be running at all. So really, it was all Gordon's fault.

Alan grimaced. Of course they would never believe that, but he could deal with it. Besides, he wouldn't have to deal with their anger until later, because right now they were surely all too worried about him to think about yelling at him. He was fine- he'd only been unconscious for a few moments- but he knew they would all be taking it like he'd jumped out a fourth storey window and was barely hanging onto his life.

He took a few more steps towards the open window, pausing every few feet to listen for the tell-tale signs of his middle brother's return. Once he thought he heard the door swish open and he froze in fear, but it was only the wind blowing past the window. _Only a few more feet..._

Alan shuffled past the infirmary's other bed and various monitoring machines to reach the opposite wall. His head was still pounding, but he was determined to reach his objective. So determined, that he didn't think about the consequences of his escape; all he could think about was sinking into the soft sand of the beach and letting the cool ocean sooth away his pain.

He reached the window two minutes after he had first stepped off the bed. He could taste the freedom, but behind that he could also detect the sickly taste of fear beginning to grow. Virgil wasn't usually one to fear, but when he was angry- as he surely would be had he been witnessing Alan's daring escape plan- he could be terrifying.

Alan pushed the fear aside and gripped the frame tightly with both hands. With a grunt, he heaved himself upwards and turned, so that he was sitting on the windowsill facing inwards. He clutched his aching head in his hands for a moment, then swung his right leg around so that he was straddling the windowsill. He was about to swing his other leg around when he heard a sound that made him freeze.

_Whoosh._ There was a slight pause. "Alan...?" Alan internally cursed, still clutching the frame between his knees. His balance still wasn't 100%, and he knew that if he fell he would never hear the end of it from his family.

Virgil slowly swirled on spot, trying to locate the brother he could have sworn had been sitting on the bed in front of him less than five minutes ago. He zeroed in on his target when he heard a small grimace of pain. Virgil whipped around to face the window, where he was met with the troubling sight of Alan straddling the windowsill with one hand pressed against his forehead while the other clutched the wooden frame as if his life depended on it.

"What the heck do you think you're doing?" Virgil asked, hustling swiftly towards his younger brother.

Alan shot a panicked glance at Virgil's stormy face before he quickly flung his other leg over the frame.

"Getting out of here." Alan said. He pushed himself off the sill just as Virgil reached a hand to grab him. It was a sizeable drop, and Alan rolled down the small hill at the base of the wall a few times before popping up, his slight sway one of the only indications that he wasn't his usual 120% energetic self.

Alan flashed his brother a quick grin and raised his hand in mockery of the typical farewell gesture.

"Later bro." He said triumphantly, before turning around and quickly disappearing down the path to the beach.

Virgil stood frozen, not believing what he had just witnessed. He knew Alan didn't like to be in the infirmary, but he would have never guessed that the Sprout would have done something so extreme. _Though maybe I should have..._

Virgil was about to jump out the window after his brother, but he stopped himself. After all, the kid's head injury wasn't _that_ bad, and Virgil himself didn't feel particularly up for crashing through the jungle looking for someone who obviously just wanted to be alone outside. With his mind made up, Virgil turned from the window and began to clean up the mess Alan had somehow managed to make during his short few minutes in the island infirmary.

_Alan'll get hungry soon enough, so he'll come back. I'll let Dad and ole' Scotty-boy chew him out. They always were better at it than me anyways._ With a smug smile on his face at the image of his oldest brother and father's assured reactions when they heard about Alan's little stunt, Virgil all but skipped out the infirmary.

Sometimes, his family was more interesting than TV.

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**Oh Alan, you scamp. Anyways, hope you enjoyed.**

**As with every other fic out there, please R&R!**


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